Through the Asylum and over the bodies to Anor Londo we go
by RPGNerd
Summary: The not at all anticipated prequel to Bad Bitter Bits Fan Fiction features an Arbalest, a Crusader, a Vestal, and a Leper are tricked by someone or something, and wake up in an asylum far away from the world they know.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Souls or Darkest Dungeon. This is a prequel of sorts to "Bad Bitter Bits Fan Fiction" and focuses on the four members of Nic's party(aside from Nic) and how they came to know each other.

As Baldwin awoke, the first thing he noticed was his pounding headache, the second thing was that he was in a cell, the third thing was the Vestal sitting beside him in rich emerald green robes. He groaned as he tried to stand up, tripping over his own feet and face-planting the cold, hard stone floor.

"Don't bother trying to get up," The Vestal said from where she sat, "the door is locked and I haven't seen any guards. We're stuck here"

That's a bleak way to look at it Baldwin thought through his migraine. "You know what happened to us?" Baldwin sat down a couple feet away from the Vestal, he sighed as he realized that he had sat down in an icy pool of water. Baldwin took this time to take a look at the cell they were in. It was small and cramped, with barely enough room for him and the Vestal. The walls were cracked and in disarray, with the cement and stones falling out in chunks and pieces, leaving several holes but none big enough for someone to slip through. The iron bar door was in a similar state, the bars were bent and more rust than iron. There was even a hole in the middle of the ceiling, with a pile of rubble underneath it.

"Us and two others, an Arbalest and a Crusader, went out for drinks after getting a pretty good contract to go kill some bandits. I didn't drink, but you and the other two got plastered. The Arbalest and the Crusader got a room together, and the less you know of what happened after that the better. We got a room as well, but to save money not for whatever is going through your head. Then we woke up here" She ended with a sigh, it was clear that she was irritated about not knowing what had happened.

His head feeling as though Ayn herself was trying to rip his brain out, Baldwin closed his eyes to sleep away the hangover.

* * *

Baldwin was woken again by someone shaking his shoulder. With weary eyes, covered in sleep he barely recognized the Vestal who shared his cell.

"C'mon wake up" She shook him harder. Her eyes wide with terror.

"I'm up, I'm up. What's going on?" The look in her eyes was the same he saw some poor Crusader have when he went into the Weald for the first time, pure and utter terror.

"There is a giant mother fucking demon on the roof!" She whisper-shouted. Baldwin stood up immediately, with no weapons, they were helpless against a demon.

"We need to get out, now" Baldwin shook his head, and quickly removed his gold plated mask to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"No shit Sherlock, I think we can shoulder check the door hard enough to open it, if not rip it off of its rusted hinges"

"Well fuck you Watson let's get this over with!" He said with a heavy sigh as he put his mask back on. There was about five feet from Baldwin from the door, not much room, but it would have to be enough. He channeled his rage, rage at being stuck here with no reason, rage at the hangover he had a few hours ago, rage at not being able to sleep longer, all of it, and he charged the door.

Turns out the door was held together with spit and prayers as it shattered when Baldwin's shoulder hit it, raining bits of rusty metal down onto the cobblestone. Baldwin barreled out into the hallway, and crashed into wall. His nose was broken and his shoulder was bruised, but hey at least the door is open.

Of course this caused no small amount of noise, which said demon apparently heard, since as Baldwin recovered from his meeting with the wall, a deafening roar filled the halls of the prison.

"MOVE!" The Vestal shouted, it took Baldwin a moment for him to comprehend her what she said. Without hesitation the Vestal grabbed Baldwin by his wrist and sprinted off down the hall, pulling the Leaper along with her. Baldwin did his best to keep up, but his iron breastplate weighed him down just enough to make it harder than it should have been.

They kept running down the hall, further into the prison until they heard someone shouting.

"Hey! Let us out!" The voice was distinctly feminine, but it echoed throughout dark dimly lit hallways.

"That sounds like Lucy" The Vestal stopped for a moment, allowing Baldwin to catch his breath and readjust his breastplate.

"Who?" He tightened the leather straps, not wanting his only bit of real armor to fall off while they ran.

The Vestal groaned, "The Arbalest"

"Oh" He cast his eyes about the dimly lit hallway they were in. It was in slightly better condition than the hallway that they came from, there were less holes in the walls, and none so far in the ceiling. The only light came from the torches that were on the walls. Numerous cell doors lined the walls, but they held only corpses and pink skinned humanoids who wore nothing but rags and moaned constantly.

"We should try to find the others" Baldwin said as he adjusted his mask.

"Probably, but I think that finding food and clean water should be our priorities" The Vestal remarked.

"We can look for them while we search for supplies. Also, sorry if we were introduced yesterday, but what's your name?"

"Jessica, nice to meet you" She held out her hand.

"Baldwin, likewise" he gave her a firm handshake and started walking down the hall, Jessica followed right behind him. "We should also be on the lookout for weapons, in case some of the other prisoners want to try something" He didn't mention the demon. Two people, no matter how well armed, stood no chance to a demon.

"Definitely"

They slipped into a tranquil silence as they walked down the hall, looking through the iron bar doors of every cell. Baldwin managed to find a very dull short-sword in the grip of a dead knight in one of the cells. It might have once been an impressive blade, but time and much use, judging by the cuts in the iron bars of the cell, has dulled it to barely be able to cut skin.

Jessica took a wooden club from another corpse, its head was splitting, but it would allow at least one solid hit before breaking.

They walked a bit further into the hallway, then the sound of metal on metal started ringing through the hallway. Baldwin and Jessica turned and faced each other at the same time.

"It might be them" Baldwin said as he shifted into a stance that would allow him to react a bit faster if they were ambushed.

"It might be more prisoners"

"It would still be worth to check it out, we might even get you a better weapon"

"That would be nice, but I would prefer our companions, meat shields aren't cheap" She smirked at that last bit.

Baldwin couldn't help but chuckle at it as well. As they proceeded down the hall, they banging grew louder, until Baldwin couldn't hear anything else. As they approached the hall that held the source of the banging. Baldwin held his hand up with five fingers, and started counting down.

Five. He sighed, and started controlling his breathing.

Four. He prepared his mind for the possible horrors ahead.

Three. He tightened his grip on his short-sword.

Two. His heart remained slow and steady, he needed to remain calm for this.

One. Move!

Baldwin Sprinted down the hallway, and came upon a large group of the pink skinned prisoners. Not taking any chances, Baldwin buried his blade in the shoulder of the nearest prisoner. The scream it produced rived that of the eldritch horrors he had fought, as a jet of crimson erupted from it shoulder.

The other prisoners turned on him immediately. Several of them clutched broken swords and sword hilts with only the first few inches of the sword still attached.

Baldwin leaped backwards, avoiding the first slashes from the prisoners. They barreled towards him, flailing their arms with no rhyme or reason. He brought his blade up and met the first strike, then their numbers overwhelmed him, forcing Baldwin to do nothing by try to block their attacks. Despite his best efforts, several made it through, cutting into his shoulders and arms. Thankfully do to the horrendous condition of the blades, they did not cut deep, but if he survived he would have to worry about infection.

Then a golden bolt of lightning came from behind him and fried one of the prisoners. Using the opening Baldwin thrust his sword through the chest of a prisoner and kicked the blade out of the hand of another. Another bolt of lightning killed another prisoner, and Baldwin brought his blade down on the head of the last prisoner, cutting into its skull and spilling brains all over the hallway.

"Thanks for the support, you really saved my ass" Baldwin was breathing heavily, his wounds were aching and he could feel the hot, sticky blood run down his shoulders, arms and back. One of the bodies started moving again, and Baldwin stomped its head it.

"No problem, now let me see to your wounds" Jessica said, her hand glowing gold.

"Are you always able to use your spells without one of your books?" Jessica's golden light washed over him, closing his cuts and giving him the feeling of a good night's sleep.

"Yes, but they are much weaker, and not as reliable" The glow stopped as she picked up one of the better conditioned broken swords from the corpses of the prisoners. "They acted mad, I hope we don't run into any more"

Same I don't know if we could take on a larger force Baldwin simply nodded in agreement as they walked down the hallway.

"Hey!" They heard someone shout.

Baldwin turned to Jessica. "That one of them?" She nodded and they proceeded along the hallway, coming to a stop in front of a cell with two not dead people inside.

"Hey what took you so long?" The one in plate mail with a crimson surcoat as red as the prisoner's blood on the walls said, raising his head to look at them.

"Insane prisoners, you know, the usual" Baldwin could feel a small smile forming on his lips. Now we will have a proper team. We can get out of here.

"Sounds like we missed one hell of a party out there" Said the girl next to the knight. She had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and had a steel breastplate covering some green leather coat. Her bright blue eyes were cutting into him, trying to read him. She must be Lucy.

"Yeah you could say that, you won't miss the next one, promise" Jessica had a small smile on her face as well, having a full team of experienced adventurers would make fighting the demon a great deal easier, even with the poor equipment that they had.

"So are you going to get us out or not?" The Crusader asked.

"Yeah just one seco-" Baldwin stopped as he realized that the iron bars were not nearly as rusted as they ones that held Jessica and himself. "Why do you guys have a better door than us?"

Jessica wanted to punch her leprosy stricken companion as his idiocy finally came about. "Who cares, now we probably have to find the key to get it open"

The smile that had been filling Lucy's face fell into a deep frown. "Well shit"

That sums this up quite well. Baldwin let his mind wander, trying to think of ways to open the door. Jessica might be able to use her lighting to blow the door up, but that might injure someone and with her powers weaker that what they should be, she might not be able to heal someone if the injury is severe enough. I could give Lucy one of the swords to try to pick the lock, but the only sword with a point that fine is mine and it's the only decent weapon we have, and I would be loathe to part with it.

Too many problems and not enough solutions, filled Baldwin's mind as he tried his best to think of a way to open the door without having to get the key.

"Baldwin!" Jessica's shouting finally shook Baldwin out of his stupor.

"What is it?" Baldwin then noticed that there was another person in armor and that they cell door was open. He was dressed in some very fine steel, at least he assumed it was steel, plate mail with a dull blue surcoat that had some design in golden thread. "And who it this?"

"My name is Oscar, pleasure to meet your acquaintance" He held out a gauntleted hand.

"Baldwin, and the pleasure is mine" Baldwin gave Oscar's hand a good firm handshake. The man was quite strong, and had a very strong grip.

"So when are we going to kill the demon?" The Crusader, Michael asked.

"Right now" Jessica said with a devilish smirk that was not befit a person of her religious beliefs.

* * *

A/N: This is a prequel to Bad Bitter Bits Fan Fiction and I would like to get some feedback to improve this. Knowledge of Bad Bitter Bits Fan Fiction is not required, but recommended to enjoy this. Also if you are going to read BBBFF, avoid the first two chapters, they are the definition of cringe and I would like to rewrite them at some point in the future. So warning.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Souls or Darkest Dungeon.

* * *

"How are we going to kill it then?" Baldwin asked as he tried to judge their newest addition to the party.

"I saw a ledge on the exit" Oscar started, "A few of us could serve as a distraction of sorts to the beast and lure it down to the floor. Then those of use hiding up on the ledge can jump down on it. Maybe stab it in the brain and kill it without much of a fight" The party murmured an agreement, the plan wasn't that bad and, with the limited weaponry that they had at their disposal, was probably the best plan they could make.

 _Now for the real question_ Baldwin thought, "Who's going to be the bait then?" He asked. Baldwin was thankful that he had his mask, else the rest of the group would see the worry and fear on his face. He had seen what demons like this would do to people in the Darkest Dungeon and this one sounded pretty large from how loud it's roar was. Anyone who went as the distraction would be the most likely to die.

"I will" Oscar said, Baldwin could feel the smirk under the knight's helm, _He seems too sure of himself, too inexperienced. He might have no idea what he just signed up for._ Then Baldwin did something he knew he would regret in just a few moments, and spoke up.

"No, I will" Baldwin's commanding voice filled the hallway.

"What?" Oscar asked, started by the command.

"I said I will. You have the best weapon out of all of us and I have the most experience when it comes to fighting demons. So you will lead the drop attack on it while I distract it" Baldwin didn't have time to deal with some youngster's dreams of glory and heroism, he needed this plan to work and if this kid fucked the bucket, then they would all die.

For a moment Oscar looked like he was going to retort, then he started truly digesting the words from the Leper, "Sure, that make sense"

"Of course it does, now Michael and Lucy grab a weapon off of those corpses over their if you haven't already, we need everyone armed as best they can be" The two nodded and went over to scavenge the pile of pink bacon men, while Baldwin looked to Jessica, "When they get back, see to any injuries that they have, if any"

Jessica gave Baldwin a glare that, if he wasn't wearing a mask, would have burned his skin right off his face, "Who made you team captain?"

"Experience" the Leper said solemnly.

At first it looked like Jessica was going to argue, be her death glare softened into a pair of piercing knives instead of death lasers, "Fine, it could be worse I guess, Michael could be leading"

"Yeah, you're right about that" Baldwin replied, a smile hidden behind his mask.

Jessica's glare of doom died down as she ran off to go help Michael and Lucy.

"How long have you been doing this?" Oscar asked, a twinge of concern in his voice.

"How long have you been alive kid?" Baldwin said, leaning against the rough stone wall.

"Nine and ten years sir" Oscar knew the answer that was coming _I've been doing this since before you were born_ Oscar could almost hear the other warrior say it now.

"During my first mission that I was second in charge of, we went off into the Darkest Dungeon, you ever heard of it?" The doom in the Leper's voice was almost palatable.

"I've never heard of it" Oscar said.

"The team was me, Monroe, an Occultist, Tessa, a Graverobber, and Lucas, a Man-At-Arms. Each of us had roughly ten years of experience fighting in wars, against bandits, monsters, necromancers, you name it, we killed it" Baldwin paused, and took a deep breath, in an attempt to soothe his nerves, "We were the best equipped, the best trained, and the most experienced team available and it was the first time the we had decided to go into the Darkest Dungeon. Our employer knew we were the best in his employ, so he sent us out the scout the dungeon, and see what was inside. I had never been second before, usually I was third or fourth in command while Lucas was our lead and Tessa was our second, depending on where we were going."

By now, Lucy, Michael, and Jessica had returned, outfitted with broken straight swords that just might be bale to cut through butter, and were listening closely, consumed by the story. Oscar just stood in silence, trying to figure out what the point of the story was.

"When we went it the first thing that hit us was the smell. It smelled like death. Blood covered the walls, courses were strewn everywhere, and shit was the second coating of paint on everything. It took every once of will we had not to run right back out of the door. We pressed on, expecting the worst, but what came after us was pure evil and nothing less. At first we had ran into several cultists who were worshiping some Ayn damned god whose name I don't know, and we cut them down without much trouble. Then came the guys who had given up their limbs so that they could have demonic tentacles for arms and legs, the fuckers even had teeth on the damn things.

"So we managed to kill them off after a grueling fight, not without suffering some serious injuries mind you, I almost lost my arm but Monroe managed to patch me up after the fight. Then he lights this torch, the thing was made of obsidian and when lit produced green flames so of course we said that we should get away from it as quick as possible. Monroe said that it was an offering to his god, and that it would grant us boons to help us with our quest. He was wrong, that or his god didn't like the idea of us going to kill its seventh cousin or something, and this blue and purple mass of tentacles and death emerged from the fucking shadows. The thing didn't make a sound until it ripped the Lucas in half. It claws cut through him like he was made of wet paper, he might as well have not been wearing any armor all that heavy plate did for him.

"As second it was my job to get as many of us out of the damn dungeon out as possible, so I ordered a retreat. Monroe didn't move, he was mesmerized by the horror that had just ripped apart our captain, so me and Tessa tried to help him out. I offered to carry him, but she insisted that she do it, since she was faster that me, and not weighed down by armor and a heavy executioners sword. That lasted for about two seconds until the thing split Monroe from head to crotch and sliced off Tessa's arm, from the shoulder down.

"As she lay dying in my arms she told me to run and that she would kill it before leaving and that I would just get in the way. I knew she was lying, but there was nothing I could do, I was tempted to pull rank but then I understood, a Leper with two arms is worth more than a Graverobber with one, so I ran. I ran until I couldn't breath, and then I ran some more. I managed to make it into town, covered in blood, shit and half a dozen other things that I didn't recognize before I passed out.

"When I came to, my employer was sitting beside my bed, and he asked me what had happened. As I told him the same tale I tell you now, I saw what little hope that he had for reclaiming his home leave his eyes. I have made five trips into the Darkest Dungeon, and each time I faced even greater horrors than the time before. I have the most experience when it come to killing the unholy and the seriously fucked up. So I ask you Oscar, have you been forced to abandon that closest thing you had to a family to a demon? Were you forced to watch your brothers get turned into shreds while you could do nothing? Have you ever even killed a demon?"

Baldwin's words left the hallway silent as the grave, and when no answer came from the younger man, he continued. "I thought not. I'll be the distraction, you will ambush it from above. That's the plan" He stood up, and walked down further into the prison.

No one spoke for several minuets, as the party just stared down the hallway that Baldwin had walked down.

"He know's he going the wrong way, right?" Oscar asked.

Jessica shrugged, "Probably doesn't care. I'll go look for him, you guys stay here" She bolted down the hallway, leaving the three behind.

"So... Anyone go any cards?" Michael asked as he sat down against the wall.

"Yeah, I do" Oscar said as he rummaged around in a small pack.

"Killing time with poker, a tale as old as time" Lucy joked as she sat down opposite Michael.

"What's poker?" Oscar asked.

The two stared at the knight, eyes wide with disbelief. Then an evil grin spread across Michael's face, "Time for you to learn of the greatest game ever made!" He said with jubilant excitement as the knight pulled out the deck of cards.

* * *

AN: That was chapter two. Criticism is welcomed, positive or not.

What do you think of this so far? Is it any good? Are there any improvements that you would like to see? Anything that you would like to see happen? Leave a review.

I would also like to thank Guest for being the first person to review this, and I'm flattered that you like this, and I hope you liked this chapter as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Souls or Darkest Dungeon

 _Thoughts_

AN: Sorry about the hiatus but I have several other projects that I am working on. I will do my best to update this more frequently in the future.

* * *

Icy wind howled throughout the asylum. The demonic warden scanned the large empty room that lay before him. He remembered his long time here, he could never forget. It was this place that made him strong. He was young when they took him, men in gleaming polished armor yanked him from the bodies of his parents and siblings. He was the youngest so they thought that they could tame him like one of their dogs. He was smart enough to know that fighting was suicide so he played along. He would survive for his revenge he thought. The put him in a cage and put the cage on a wagon headed for what he would later know as Astora.

In the great city he was presented as a prize, spoils of war and what not, to the king. He said that he was too dangerous, that he should be killed on the spot. He told the knights to lop of his head and burn the body. Then a thing, pale looking shadow of a man in billowing white robes approached the king. He presented the idea of having the demon as a guard dog of sorts and that, like with wolves, if they raised him without abuse he may come to serve them. What simple fools, they thought that a being that was born of a lord soul would be nothing but a simple beast.

The king took several days to ponder the priest's words, and in that time the knights kept him locked in a tower and fed him mutton twice a day. At the time he was roughly the size of a small pony, but he lacked the strength that his adult form would come to know and stayed docile. He would do anything to stay alive. He was brought before the king and the priest once again. The king allowed the scheme, but stated that the second he would be deemed dangerous he was to be killed.

It was with this knowledge that he grew with. He refrained from consuming the souls that came from the dying in the city, if only to preserve his life. Several times during the spring and summer he almost starved due to not wanting to seem too strong. Every month they tested him by cutting his back open with a sword, and measured how strong he was by how deep the blade cut into him. When he was young it cut him to the bone. When he was an adolescent it cut halfway into his back. As an adult it would barely get an inch into his skin.

After that, the king had withdrawn his threat, and seemed to think that the demon was nothing but a pet and was no threat to him.

How wrong he was.

Eventually one of the higher ranking priests from the Way of White came and demanded that they take possession of him. Unable to defy the church, the king let him go with the priest and his posse. He was carted off to the asylum which would become his final home, and right before he was released he was given one final order as the large pilgrim key was strapped to his back.

"Let nothing leave alive"

They let him out, and he obeyed.

After the first good meal in decades, he grew rapidly, the souls of the church men filling his limbs with power. Inside the asylum was a gigantic hammer made from some special wood, probably a tool for him to use to carry out his task, and he took it as his own. At first it was hard to swig properly, but as the years went by and the hollows died to him by the hundreds, his strength grew to nearly match those of his parents. His body was covered in scars and was as study as oak. He was a mature demon, of that there was no contest, yet doubt was still in his mind. His parents thought themselves invincible and they were now dead. So he took no chances and was quick and efficient with his kills.

He was the silent deadly sentinel of the asylum, and yet he counted his days. Eventually all things, even the gods, die.

So were his thoughts as he noticed his approaching challenger. He was tall for a human, roughly six and a half feet if he had to guess, with a golden mask and a white cloak. In his hands was one of the better conditioned swords that he had seen, impressive for the asylum, but nothing compared to what the king's knights used. The human strode forth with confidence rarely seen when facing a demon, but among the mad and the hollow fear is uncommon.

He leaped down and swung his hammer at his new foe. The masked one dodged the attack with grace not displayed by the usual hollows.

'He must be a new arrival' The demon thought to himself as he swung at the human again. Another dodge, it was clear that this one had fought ones such as he before. That or it was really lucky.

Then the human started spiriting to the door.

'It must not know that I have the key' The demon thought, as it gave chase. He swung out with the hammer again, but it was just avoided like all the rest. The human got the the door, and started desperately pulling and pushing on it.

'My chance!' A large overhead swing was brought down on the human, and it dashed to the left. Just a second too late. The hammer smashed it's right leg, leaving nothing much more than red paste on the floor. A scream form the human, and them the demon went in for the kill. Right as he was bringing him hammer up to kill the human, something landed on his head. The demon barely had time to acknowledge this before the knight that was on its head plunged it's sword to the hilt in the demon's head, piercing it's brain and killing it instantly.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long wait and short chapter, but things have been piling up on me. First it was finals and then I got a job so my time has been limited. I will try to have the next chapter in a more timely manner. Please leave a review and tell me what your opinions on this chapter, as well as any suggestions on how to improve this story or my writing.


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